


The Rise of Imperator Furiosa

by ThoughtfulFangirl



Category: MMFR, Mad Max Fury road, Mad Max Series (Movies)
Genre: Action, Ficlet, Gen, War Boys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-04
Updated: 2015-07-08
Packaged: 2018-04-07 17:08:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4271241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThoughtfulFangirl/pseuds/ThoughtfulFangirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Furiosa is just a war boy lancer on the war rig convoy headed to Gas Town. When the buzzards attack, she finds herself taking charge of the action and proving herself to the other war boys, getting the particular respect of the war boys Ace and Morsov.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Demise of Imperator Edge

There must have been a group of buzzards waiting just out of sight of the rig, resting behind a large dune. The sounds of engines turning were the only warning, and she probably wouldn't even have heard them if she wasn't lancing for the lead car, and they were a bit father ahead of the rig than usual, so the sound of that monster vehicle didn't mask the noise of the buzzards' engines starting up. 

Furiosa grabbed up a lance and swung to the front of the vehicle, stopping on the hood for a moment to let out a war cry, signaling to any who saw her that there was danger on the horizon. She then slid to the front of the vehicle as the buzzards were likely going to try to flank the rig, but at least one was going to try and drop spikes in front of the convoy. She wasn't about to let that happen. She quickly took aim at the most strategic place for the cars to come into view, and there it was, swerving around the bend, aiming to put its vehicle in their path several meters ahead. 

Her driver sped up, trying to get in front of the vehicle before it got in front of them. Furiosa readied her lance, and as soon as they were in range, she threw her lance. It hit the passenger side front wheel well. The tire exploded, and the vehicle began to spin out. Furiosa swung back into the lancer's post to grab for another one and get a view of what was going on. She could see the left flank of the rig. The war boys in back were keeping a buzzard vehicle busy, not letting it pull up too tight on the rig's side. 

Furiosa turned back around to see if any other buzzards had tried to come up on the front convoy, and as she did so, was forced backward. The whole vehicle had lurched forward. She braced herself against the poles of the lancer’s perch and turned her head, looking behind her. The rig was riding their rear end, and smoke seemed to be billowing from the hood area, obscuring Imperator Edge's view. 

"Moron." She growled. She had already had little respect for their imperator, but driving faster when your vision was obscured—especially with a car ahead of them—was reckless at best. 

Furiosa turned back to the cab and pounded on it, getting Volt’s attention. "I'm going to clear the rig's view." She yelled, so he could hear her. He nodded but kept his eyes on the road.

Furiosa turned around then. Volt had pulled ahead a little bit, but it seems as if the lack of resistance the imperator felt only compelled him to driver more quickly. Was he trying to use the lead car as some sort of guide?! 

She propped her foot up on the edge of the lancer's perch and grabbed the hood of the rig. Simultaneously, she shoved off the edge of the perch and pulled herself up, getting her torso over the hood of the rig. She clambered the rest of the way up and found a smoke bomb on the hood. She covered her mouth with one hand and reached down with the other, scooping it up. There was an odd pull when she lifted it, almost as if something sticky and been put on it. Probably why it had stayed on the hood. 

Furiosa turned with it in her hand and saw through the smoke a buzzard almost even with the cab of the rig on the passenger side. She tossed the smoke bomb at the hood of the car, but the sticky substance must not be quite great enough for two sticks. It rolled off the hood, and the smoke quickly cleared. The rig suddenly slowed, and Furiosa lurched forward, her body sprawling against the hood. She reached her arm out, bracing herself as best she could. The head car finally got some distance from the rig, and Furiosa looked over her shoulder at the idiot imperator. She pushed herself back from the edge of the hood and looked back to the buzzard car only to see a man crawled partially onto the hood and aiming a crossbow at her. She had nowhere to go. She was wretched, sitting up on the hood of the rig, this exposed, and the imperator was too incompetent to be any help. 

The man's body suddenly jerked, a bolt protruding from his neck. A war boy must have got him. Furiosa leaned slightly forward, thinking to check on who it was, when the rig suddenly lurched again, but this time off to the left. Furiosa's head snapped around to look at the driver and saw blood sprouting from just under the imperator's neck, to the right under his clavicle, probably through a lung. 

Furiosa reclaimed her feet and swung around to the driver side, swinging herself beside the cab and reaching in through the open window to unlatch the door and pull it open. Once the door was open, Furiosa got up next to the imperator. "Move over!" This was the first time she'd actually got up close to the man. He'd always been too aloof around lowly war boys, but she recognized him, those eyes, from a time in her life she'd rather not remember. 

He turned to her, terrified, his hand cupped below the wound, not even staunching the flow of blood. His mouth moved, and gurgling noises escaped. She could tell he was pleading for her help, but her heart had gone hard. She grabbed his imperator's scarf, using it to pull him forward, jerking him out of the cab so she could climb into the driver seat. She promptly righted the steering with her right hand and pulled the door shut with her left, mechanical arm. The fabric from his scarf was still in her right hand, and she tossed it on the passenger seat as she focused in on the buzzard car that had taken out their imperator. Its rear end was flush with her bumper. It was aiming to take out the lead car, which was helpless without its lancer. Furiosa quick checked her side mirrors and saw that those war boys she could see had good grips and postures. She jerked the rig hard to the right. The buzzard car saw the action just quick enough to try to back off. Instead of hitting the rear end, she hit it at about the rear driver passenger door, causing its front end to veer in toward the rig, and then spin outwards, away after the front end smashed the rig’s grill. 

Clambering to her left made her jerk her head to see what was at her window. The war boy, Ace, was suddenly there. He looked startled to see her. "Where's Imperator Edge?" 

"Took a fatal shot." Furiosa replied, glancing into her passenger side mirror. The buzzards had righted themselves already and were picking up pace with them again. She glanced around the cab and saw a large gun, a crossbow with bolts that had exploding tips like the lances, and a handgun by her knees. She reached for the big gun and pulled it up to her and looked at Ace. Ace now had both his elbows inside the window, bracing his body with them as he'd lifted his hands to give the V8 salute for his fallen comrade. 

Furiosa shoved the gun at him. "Take this." She ordered. She jerked her head toward the passenger side. "Buzzard's coming up on our right. Take care of it." Ace's eyes grew wide at her hauling the large gun at him, but he didn't question her. He lugged the gun out the window and put it on the hood. He crawled up after it as the buzzard vehicle became visible out her right window. Furiosa let her foot off the gas, causing the rig to fall back just far enough to give Ace a clear shot. He took it, and the front end, engine block of the vehicle exploded. She eased her foot back on the gas, picking up the speed she'd lost. 

Ace clambered back down to her window. He hauled the gun back in toward her. "Can't do much more with this. Too heavy to be mobile with outside the rig." Furiosa moved the gun back into the cab. "Get me a war boy to take up lead car lance position." Furiosa said, seeing another buzzard coming up again on the right. The war boys along the left flank were clearly doing a better job keeping the pursuing vehicles off her. Imperator Edge’s doing probably, so he’d have extra protection. That hadn’t worked out too well for him. She pulled out the crossbow to her right and aimed it out the window, preparing for the vehicle to come into range and to get a good shot. As it pulled into view, however, it quickly dropped back again. She snarled and shoved the weapon back in its holster. 

A thud to her left and she turned to see a younger war boy at her window. "You needed me?" He asked, his eyes wide but his tone determined. He likely hadn't known it would be her at the wheel. "What's your name?" 

"Morsov." 

"Alright Morsov, I need you to lance for our head car. We're going to have to do this while moving. You think you can handle that?" 

Morsov gave a curt not. 

"Alright. Stay low until the hood of the rig is to the rear of the car. I'm going to pull up beside it. Wait until the bumper of the rig is flush with the cab. I need you to make it safe, so no heroics, okay? You wait till you have a clear shot to jump to the lancer's spot. You got that?" 

"Got it!" 

"Get on with it then." Furiosa said, jerking her head, indicating for him to climb onto the hood. As he did so, she gently eased the gas down, closing the distance between her and the front car. She gave a single blast of the rig's horn, knowing this would get the Volt's attention. She motioned for him to pull to the left. There was enough room for her to get to the right of him and stay on the pavement if he did so, and she wanted the ground as even as possible for the jump. The car pulled to the left edge of the pavement, and she pulled to the right, picking up the pace, drawing even with the back of the driver cab. She didn't pull fully into position until she felt she matched the pace of the other vehicle, then pressed down just a little more. Morsov was crouched on the left of the hood, waiting like she'd told him. As she pulled up to the cab, he waited a second, giving her a moment to match pace, and then he leapt. She held her breath for a brief moment. It almost looked like he had gone too far, but his feet landed near the middle of the perch. His body jerked forward, but he was able to grab a lancer's post and steady himself. 

Furiosa took her foot of the gas, letting herself fall back behind the lead car, where it took up its position again. She drew back enough to give it some good space. She didn't want to do what the last imperator did if anything impeded her temporarily.

The dunes to the left of the road suddenly gave way, opening up on a clear stretch of desert land. A buzzard swerved around the fight happening on the left flank of the rig and started gaining on them. Furiosa looked around for a war boy. The buzzard looked like it was going to come for her, and she was a little out of range for the lead lancer to assist. She was on her own. She yanked the crossbow back out, swung her door open, and jammed the pedal. She swung out, aiming at the oncoming buzzard. She aimed at the passenger wheel well. As she did so, she saw in her peripheral Ace swing down by her. He fired at the driver as she fired at the wheel well. The wheel well exploded, but the driver had only taken the bolt to his right shoulder; he'd dropped a gun from the hand at that. Ace fired again and took the driver in the face. Furiosa barely saw it before she was swinging back into the cab and letting up on the gas. She checked her mirrors and didn't see any buzzards. 

A dune dropped, and another car whipped in at them from the right. The head car screeched against the pavement, Morsov took aim, and the rear end of the buzzard exploded. The car continued to spin in toward the road, and Furiosa nudged the wheel to the right, then hit the gas again, aiming it so she'd hit one end of the spinning vehicle and force it to keep spinning, past the rig, off the pavement, instead of getting stuck at the front of her grill and slowing the whole convoy. Ace ducked out of the way of some debris as the car spun even faster after the strike from the rig, and it looked clear again. She looked forward and saw Morsov glancing at her, and she gave him a nod of approval. He grinned and howled in triumph. She saw the driver throw his head back and do the same, and then Ace was doing it. Furiosa couldn't help but grin, and she too suddenly felt the rushing of adrenaline her body had been going through, and she let all that adrenalin induced energy and tension out in a growling howl of triumph right along with them. 

She chuckled as she came down from it and shared grins with Ace. His eyes then focused on something past her, and the grin faded. She glanced at what he was looking at and saw the imperator scarf. 

"What'd you say happened to him?" 

Furiosa shifted in her seat so he could see the blood that had spilled onto the edge. "He was bleeding out. He couldn't drive, and he wouldn't move." She replied tersely. 

Ace gave a nod. "Be careful with that." He nodded toward the scarf. "I've seen war boys rip each other to shreds trying to claim things that would denote them as imperators." He regarded her for a long moment. He gave a nod. "Hide it or wear it." 

Furiosa lifted a brow. "Wear it?" 

"There have been times, when a war boy suitable to one day being an imperator, has worn one to show their interest in being promoted. It looks assertive and has worked favorably in the past. Unless they are sick and tumored, then the other imperators might just kill you themselves. But you're not, are you?" 

Furiosa didn't answer that, but it didn't really seem like he meant for her to. She just looked at the scarf for a moment, then the road ahead. 

"Do you know the kill switch for this thing, or are we going to have to hot-wire it when we got to Gas Town?" 

"I know the sequence." Ace said. Furiosa gave a nod, and Ace turned to head back up. "Ace." He stopped. "Did you choose the positions of the war boys?" 

Ace shook his head. "Imperator Edge did that." 

As she had suspected. Furiosa fought the urge to roll her eyes. He'd only joined the war rig three or four transports before; Ace had been with it much longer. Edge should have trusted his judgment. "Rearrange them." 

"How would you like it?" Furiosa looked at him hard. He was technically second in command after the imperator. He didn't need to be taking orders from her, but it didn't seem like it had even occurred to him to take charge now. 

"You've been working this rig the longest. Make the calls. Tighten up my right flank!" 

"Yes boss." He swung out of sight. 

Furiosa's eyes inevitably wandered back to the scarf. She looked ahead of her toward Gas Town. Had the rig ever arrived without its imperator? What would that mean? An imperator from Gas Town would probably demand charge of the war rig if they showed up without command and that seemed unwise. Was it worth risking everything she'd accomplished this far though? 

Well, she hadn’t got where she was now by not taking risks. She grabbed up the scarf and coiled it around her neck, considering her next move as they approached the gates of Gas Town. 


	2. The Rise of Imperator Furiosa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Furiosa arrives at Gas Town and begins the transition from War Boy to Imperator

The rig pulled up to the gates, which eased open for them to pass. She'd done just enough runs to know the way to the unloading station, though she didn't need to. Volt knew the way. As they reached the station, the convoy came to a slow and stopped. The war boys hooted and hollered as they came down off the rigs, celebrating their triumph. Ace found her right away, and she saw him take note of the scarf. "We lost two war boys and the imperator but none of our produce."

"We'll do better next time. You've worked out an optimal arrangement with the war boys?" Ace gave a curt nod. "Good." 

A Gas Town imperator stepped up to them. "Where's the imperator?" He demanded. 

Furiosa turned to face him. "You're looking at her." 

The imperator bared his teeth. "You ain't no imperator. You got half life paint." 

"Probationary Imperator." She said sharply. 

"No such thing. Who promoted you?" 

"I did," Furiosa replied, turning to face him fully, ready for a fight if it came to that. "When the last one got killed by a buzzard. And I'm no half life." She held her arms out, feeling sick as she displayed her unblemished flesh. 

The imperator walked around her. He sniffed and gave his nose one rub with the knuckle of his middle finger. "Whoever heard of a probationary,  _girl_ , imperator?" 

"We wouldn't'ave made it this far without her, sir." Ace said. “Buzzards came down hard, harder than usual.”

"I know you. A War Boy, too good to die in battle. You always come in with the rig." 

"Probably why she's lasted so long." Furiosa made the comment sound like an offhand remark, but it chafed hearing him talk to a war boy as if it were a bad thing he hadn't found a way to die. 

"You there!" The imperator pointed at one of the war boys. "Come here." 

Morsov stepped forward, still grinning at his triumph. "She your new imperator?" 

Morsov looked at her, his eyes widening slightly as he noticed the scarf. He gave a shrug then, and then a nod. "Pretty much. She took charge when the Imperator ascended Valhalla. Never worked with a better driver." He grinned, and she could almost see in his eyes that he was remembering that leap from the war rig to the lancer's post. 

The imperator gave a huff, then finally said. "You need to do repairs?" 

"Ace?" 

"We could use a couple touch ups, yeah." 

"Get the rig to the garage then.” The Gas Town imperator said. “We'll fill her up with more gas then. Imperator...?" 

"Furiosa." 

"Right. Come this way." He said, and led her into the building he had come out of. She'd never been in this building before. As they went inside, he began leading her through the complex. "You get a room, a good meal for a mission accomplished, and a bucket of water and soap. It's called a sponge bath. No one's going to take you seriously as an imperator with that paint on. Get it off, and hopefully nobody will notice you didn't leave an Imperator and not kill you for your insolence." 

"It sounds like you might like to do that." 

The imperator made a sound that was either a low chuckle or a grunt. "It don't make no sense, but we're all hoping we can offer more to our Immortan Joe and People Eater, and if you get the job done... well hell if I care." He stopped at a door and motioned her inside. "You could come dine with the People Eater, but it will probably take you too long to get that shit off." His eyes landed on her arm and really took it in for the first time. He laughed. "You need any help?" 

Furiosa fought off the shudder the look in his eyes gave her and turned that feeling into murder. Her eyes narrowed in on him, and she knew that murder was reflected in them when he stepped back. He glared at her for a moment then as he realized he'd done so. He lifted his head, neck suddenly stiff, and raised a lip in a silent snarl, but he turned on his heel and marched away.  

Furiosa entered the room. There was a  _mattress_  on the floor, and a bucket with water, soap, and a sponge on a bench on the far side. The room wasn't elaborate, but considering what she was used to these days, it was extravagant. She turned to the door, hoping there'd be a lock of some sort. She frowned when there wasn't and moved the bench in front of the door, then slipped the gun from the cab out of her waistband and into her pocket, in easy reach of her right hand. When she felt as secure as she was going to, she began undoing the straps to her mechanical arm. When she was done, she pulled it off and set it on the mattress. She stretched and swung her shoulders a couple times, feeling relief at the lifted weight. She then began to strip, placing the gun on the bench beside her. There was something oddly thrilling at the idea of being able to strip away that freakishly white paint and do what she wanted with her hair. Maybe she'd let it grow in a little bit. It was so important to blend in as much as possible before in order to survive, but now, now she could stand out. Now she didn't have to conform quite so closely to the circus rules. 

A bath. Even a sponge bath. After this much time. She sat down on the bench once her clothes were removed and drew the bucket over to her and submerged the soap in the lukewarm water. She rubbed it against her leg, working up a lather and then rubbed it into the flesh. She soaped herself up from head to toe as much as possible before dipping the sponge into the water. She lifted it out of the water and squeezed, letting out the extra water to wipe the first later of grit and paint off of her. It took the majority of the night scrubbing, scrubbing herself raw. After her meal was delivered (she allowed them to slide it through a cracked open door, gun in hand), she ate and then returned to her task until finally, instead of white, her flesh was pink and sore from all the abrasive sponging. But she didn't care. For the first time in a long time, she felt a little bit like the girl she remembered. 

In the morning, Ace was brought to her room at her request. He got there as she was strapping her arm in place. "The rig ready?" She asked as he entered to subdue any potential comments on her clear skin. She could tell that he was taking it in, but he didn't seem tempted to comment on it. 

"Ready and waiting." 

Furiosa gave a nod, then gave him an inscrutable look. "You could have demanded charge yesterday. Before we set out and I continue to rely on you, I need to know why you didn’t." 

Ace shrugged. "I ain't lookin to be in charge of anything. I'm never going to be an imperator with my tumors, so this's 'bout the best I'm gonna get. My main concern is those boys, and you prevented more deaths out there yesterday, and I can get behind that." 

"We're supposed to die gloriously in battle." She said matter-of-factly and focused on her last buckle so he couldn't see that she was gauging his reaction. 

He was quiet for a long moment, then said. "Mayhaps that’s so, but it gives me no pleasure." 

She looked up at him then and smiled. She opened her mouth to say something when he cut her off. 

"Speaking of which, if you wanna pull a stunt like that one you did yesterday, you give me some heads up. You exposed a lot of flesh, and you're gonna make a target of yourself. You need cover. I'll provide that. Someone comes close up on your left flank, I'll come get you, you hear?" 

"You giving me orders? I thought you weren't looking to be in charge." 

He had the grace to look at least a little contrite. "You acted out there yesterday like you wanna do the smart thing. I'm telling you the smart thing to do." 

Furiosa nodded. "I agree. It was a brash move and some cover would be more than helpful. Just don't dawdle!" 

Ace nodded and moved to leave, but Furiosa put a hand on his shoulder. He started slightly but calmed and looked at her. "What happens when I get back to Citadel?" 

"You can either slip into the crowd and reapply the paint—pretend none of this happened, or you keep wearing it, leave the paint off. Go about your regular duties. I don't know how it all works, but I think the other imperators will notice and discuss it and bring the issue before The Immortan. Just know who your allies are. You'll likely be tested. It'll help, though, if you come down from the rig and celebrate with the crew, in front of everyone as their imperator." 

Furiosa nodded. "Thank you. Now let's get to Bullet Farm and get on with our mission." 

Ace nodded and led her out and back to the rig. On the way, she made him tell her the kill switch sequence and how much gas they'd gotten, where he'd stationed the war boys and if he'd picked any up from gas town to replace those they'd lost. When they got to the rig, the crew was waiting. Some of them looked wary, but it appeared as though they'd been debriefed on the new situation. They looked at her expectantly, like she was supposed to give them a speech. She remembered that some imperators liked to do that—talk long and at length about what they expected from their war boys, why they deserved to be there, do rowdy chants. None of that felt right. That wasn't who she was. But these were creatures of ritual and ceremony. If she wanted their support in what was to come, she needed to prime them.

"We got a mission to do, and yesterday you all proved competent. Let's do it again today. Just remember, we need each body. We didn't replace the two we lost yesterday, and with me taking up operation of the rig, we need to all be at our best. You see a crewmate in trouble and you can do something about it, do it. You earn Valhalla with meaningful death; don’t attempt it recklessly. You earn my and your comrades' respect with continuing contributions. I need each one of you. You understand me war boys?" 

"WAR BOYS!" 

Furiosa nodded, then caught sight of Ace. She hadn't realized he'd disappeared into the rig. He came out with an oil rag in one hand, and when he reached her, he held it out to her and lifted his eyebrows. Furiosa gave him a slow smile. As she received the rag, he stepped back, and she dipped the fingers of her right hand into the oil, then donned her eyes and forehead with the war paint. Now she fully looked the part, with her imperator scarf, peachy flesh, and black forehead. 

“War Boys!” Ace shouted, turning to the crew.

“War Boys!”

“Today, we ride with Imperator Furiosa!”

“Furiosa!” Volt cried, thrusting his fist in the air and grinning at his used-to-be lancer.

“Kamakrazee War Boys!” Ace shouted, turning back to the rig and taking position.

“War Boys” The war boys followed suit.

“fukushima  kamakrazee war boys!”

“War Boys”

Furiosa walked to the rig with a sense of the unreal.  _Imperator Furiosa_ Ace had said. Somehow it sounded so right, and so wrong. She slid into the rig, hit the sequence, and blared the horn.

"Let's fang it!"


End file.
